Nelton Friedrich, Itaipu’s Coordination and Environmental Director, spoke twice about the Cultivating Good Water Program (CAB, in Portuguese) at the 5th World Water Forum held in Istanbul, Turkey. The first on Wednesday evening at the request of the Po Basin managers, Italy’s largest watershed. He spoke again Thursday morning at the official presentation of the program to event participants. Both lectures were attended by water resource experts and international political leaders.

“These were two momentous occasions for us and resulted in new invitations to speak about the program in other countries, showing that the program has become a benchmark when it comes to sustainable water treatment”, highlighted the director.

“Sometimes, because we are close to it, it is hard for us to size up how important the program is, which we end up understanding in great meetings like this one, as they include our model in their final reports and let us know that people are paying close attention to us”, Nelton Friedrich said.

Reach

The CAB presentation in Istanbul has cemented the gradual increase in the program’s international reach. Itaipu’s very own Coordination director has recently talked about it in Spain, China and Belgium as well. CAB stands out for its set of 20 programs and 63 projects carried out with several partners in the 29 cities located in the power plant’s area of influence, the Paraná Watershed Paraná 3. The initiative has already earned numerous awards for Itaipu. Among them, the Charter of the Earth and the 5th Brazilian Environmental Benchmarking awards.

Itaipu at the 5th World Water Forum

The 5th World Water Forum is an initiative by the World Water Council. The meeting has been held every three years since 1997. This year it started last Monday (16) and goes on until Sunday (22), bringing together approximately 20,000 people from 150 countries. The attendees include managers, experts, politicians and opinion makers. The purpose of the event is to discuss ways for people to adapt to global changes, be they climate-related or brought about by urbanization and economic globalization.

The Brazilian participation is coordinated by the National Water Agency (ANA, in Portuguese), which has put together a delegation staffed by 150 experts from various organizations. Itaipu representatives are in this group.